An interesting film about a sparking Italian politician, who industrialized the protection of local gastronomic values.

I've seen the film at the CinemaTavolara movie fiesta in Sardegna,
Italy. It is about the life and carrier of Carlo Petrini and his
undoubtedly devotion to "il cibo", the food, but peculiarly to slow
food. In the '70s when the fast food chains stretched over their
tentacles into Europe and the world out of the USA, lots of people
started losing his connection of traditional meals, preferring the
quick and not too healthy hamburgers and others instead of sitting down
and doing the ritual of eating. Carlo Petrini, the emblematic figure of
the Italian socialists, took the problem seriously and fought against
it in articles, speeches and other forms until he arrived to form the
Slow Food Movement which is helping in and embracing farmers in about
140 countries around the world to grow and sell their products to
customers. This film is a perfect interpretation of the hard work what
Carlo Petrini and his co-workers and successors are doing under the
umbrella of the movement.

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The surprising origins of the Slow Food movement

Produced in 2013, this is a delightful documentary in Italian with
English subtitles, running 113 minutes. With a light touch, it tells
the truly inspiring and humorous story of Carlo Petrini, and how he
came to start the Slow Food movement with his ragtag bunch of friends
in the revolutionary, free-thinking 1970s.

Contrary to what most of us know about the movement, it did not start
as a response to the 1986 opening of a McDonalds fast food restaurant
in Italy, but years earlier, as a political movement in Carlo's
hometown of Bra, in northwestern Italy.

The Slow Food organization has grown so much it now hosts an annual
food festival called Terra Madre in Torino where 10,000 "farmers from
around the globe" come to compare foods and discuss the state of
growing food in today's rapidly changing agro-climate. Slow Food's
motto is: Good, clean, fair food for all! They have also built a new
culinary institute, the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Bra.

This highly entertaining and educational documentary shows how one
person's strong ideals can spawn an entire movement beneficial to
mankind.

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1 out of 2 people found the following review useful:

Interesting concept, shoddy execution

Let me start by saying I went into this film having no idea what
exactly slow food was. I left the theater being not entirely sure
either. I think it's supposed to be everything that's not fast food!?
The topic interested me because I believe everybody should think about
his nutrition way more than most people do these days. I stopped eating
meat years ago and never got to regret it. However, I almost regret
having watched this documentary here. The first at least 30 minutes, I
really wasn't sure what was happening. There were almost no food
references at all and instead we found out about the political
backgrounds in Italy decades ago, how certain left-wing parties scored
a great election result in one particular area of Italy, obviously the
party that all the Slow Food founders belonged to. Here and there the
political aspect was neglected for a minute to show us some music from
the members or even from people close to the members like two fat
singing twin ladies.

When the film finally started to show what the title suggested, there
was not really a lot substance either. Instead of a really adequate
examination on slow food, we get to see Carlo Petrini, the main force
behind slow food, during a speech which really is more of a comedy show
than a presentation. We also see him in meetings with Prince Charles
and Mikhail Gorbachev, probably to show us what a significant
personality he is. Later on, we find out how one of the founders had
died and everything before was so uninteresting that I had no idea who
this even was. The film goes on with Pedrini in an African village
(cliché alert) and on campus. As a whole, it really felt more of a
documentary on Pedrini's life than on the issue of slow food
unfortunately, even if both is inevitably closely-connected of course.

Now, finally about the concept of slow food, it sure is an interesting
one, but its chances were summarized pretty nicely during an interview
by one of the protagonists: You can't win a revolution without
politics. As long as the economy is down and fast food is cheap and
makes your hunger go away quickly, people will always consume it in
huge quantities. The only path to a healthier nutrition is a healthier
purse. And just like people's awareness what they stuff into their
mouths leaves a lot to be desired, so does this documentary. The only
thing I really took from it, is that the "Internationale" is still such
a nice tune after all these years.